Hungary moves up to 52nd in World Bank ease of doing business ranking

Hungary has moved up one place to 52nd in the World Bank’s latest annual ease of doing business ranking.

Hungary’s score for the ranking was 73.4, compared to a score of 86.8 for the ranking leader, New Zealand, and a low score of 20.0 for Somalia, in last place on the list.

Ahead of Hungary in the ranking was Poland, in 40th place, the Czech Republic, in 41st, and Slovakia, in 45th.

The World Bank noted in the Doing Business report that Hungary had made paying taxes easier by upgrading the internal electronic tax system, while making paying taxes less costly by reducing the payroll tax.

Hungary also raised its overtime allowance to 400 hours per calendar year, making employment regulation more business-friendly, the World Bank said.

“Authorities could benefit from the experience of Hungary where employers have the freedom to use fixed-term contracts of up to five years for tasks of a permanent nature,” it added.

Hungary’s Finance Ministry acknowledged the improvement in the country’s ranking in a statement on Thursday. It noted that the payroll tax had been reduced further from July 1 and that businesses’ burden would ease more from 2021 when the National Tax and Customs Authority (NAV) starts preparing corporate tax returns as it already does for private individuals.

Source: MTI